Ventilator for refrigerator-cars



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

E. T. EARL. VBNTILATOR FOR REFRIGERATOR CARS.

No. 584,283. Patented June 8,1897.

(No Model.) 7 2 SheetsSheet 2 E. T. EARL. VENTILATOR FOR REFRIGERATORCARS. No. 584,283.

Patented June 8,1897.

Warren STATES PATENT @nnicn.

EDYVIN T. EARL, 0F OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA.

VENTILATOR FOR REFRIGERATOR-CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming'part of Letters Patent No. 584,283, dated June 8,1897. Application filed fieptember 28, 1896. Serial No. 607,257. (Nomodel.)

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN T. EARL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Oakland, in the county of Alameda and State of California,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ventilators forRefrigerator-Oars; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to cars for the transportation of perishablesubstances of the kind now known as combined ventilator and refrigeratorcars. Such cars are provided with one or more ice-tanks at each endwhich are filled with ice through openings or ic e-holes in thecar-roof; and the method of ventilation consists in forcing air throughthese openings at one end into and through the icetanks at that end,through the body of the car and its perishable freight, and out throughthe ice-tanks and ice-holes at the other end. The forced draft of air isordinarily produced by the motion of the car, and as the construction isalike at both ends such ventilation is maintained, no matter in whichdirection the car is traveling, so long as the ice-holes are open. Theseice-holes are usually provided with heavy insulated lids,which can beclosed down when the tanks are iced to make the car a refrigerator inwarm weather or to insulate the contents of the car in excessively coldweather. These lids are of course raised to permit the car to beventilated, and it has been found expedient and desirable to utilizethem when so raised as deflectors to direct the air into the ice-holes,and thus produce a better and more effective draft and ventilation. Inreissued Letters Patent No. 11,324, granted to me April 18, 1893, Idescribed and showed means for supporting these lids in partially-raisedposition, such means being foldable in order that the lid might beclosed without obstruction. I also described and showed in said reissuescreens for excluding cinders from the draft-openings,which screens wereconnected to the lids and were foldable for the same reason. In theconstruction described in said reissue the heavy ice-hole lid formed anessential part of the ventilating device or structure. Such aconstruction is open to certain objections and possesses certaindisadvantages. The ice hole lid, as stated, is very heavy and hard tohandle, and this makes it difficult to properly manipulate such lid andfoldable devices connected to it. Furthermore, foldable devices carriedby the lid are necessarily exposed to injury at all times when the lidis thrown back while the car is being iced. This recharging of theicetanks takes place very frequently on long routes of travel, and hencethe foldable devices, constituting part of the ventilator and foldedupon the lower side of the lid, are, when the lid is thrown back, liableto be injured by the men engaged in breaking up the ice or by theirtool. These disadvantages, all of which grow out of the use of the icehole lid as part of the ventilating structure, are entirely obviated bymy present improved construction, because I do away entirely with theice-hole lids for any purpose excepting their primary one, which is toclose the iceholes and insulate the car. My present ventilator structureis entirely independent of these lids, and so can be made not only lightand easy to handle, but can be conveniently disposed of when not in usein such a way as to avoid all risk of injury.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown one practical embodiment of myinvention in the form in which I prefer to construct it.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of part of the roof and one ice-tank of acar, broken away in such a manner as to show all the parts of my device.Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 3 is a perspectivesimilar to Fig. 1, but showing a somewhat modified construction. Fig. 4is a longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 5 is a detail view showing amodified construction of support or bearing for the screen.

The car having the roof A and the ice-tank B requires no particulardescription, as its construction in these respects is well known. Itwill be understood, however, that one or more of these ice-tanks islocated at each end of the car and that each tank is provided with theheavy hinged lid or door C,which in the present case performs only thefunction of opening and closing the ice-tanks. This door is shown inFigs. 2 and 4, but is omitted from Figs. 1 and 3 to avoid obscuringother parts.

Its relation to Figs. 1 and 3 is, however, made clear from Figs. 2 and iand the description.

To the rear edge 1 of the ice-tank is hinged a comparatively light lidor door D, of wood or metal. The hinges 2 of this lid are set betweenthe hinges 3 of the heavy main lid or, in other words, are placed farenough inward from the side line or edge of the ice-tank to leave roomfor the hinges 3 outside of them. The numeral 4 in Figs. 1 and 3indicates the position of the hinges 3. The lid D is detachable from thecar-roof and either with or from the hinges 2. In the drawings thesehinges are secured to the roof, as shown at 5, and the lid D isdetachably connected by staples 6 to the leaves of the hinges; but it isobvious that the hinges could be secured to the lid and detachablyconnected to the root. In either case the lid D, when the main lid isthrown back, Fig. 2, can be elevated at an angle to form the top andrear of the ventilator above the ice-hole.

To the side edges of the lid D are hinged wings E of triangular shape,which are foldable, so that they can rest upon the roof near the edgesof the ice-hole in order to support the lid, or can be turned inwardlyand under the lid, so as to lie fiat. A. screen F is hinged to the lidnear the front edge, which is also foldable from its position at rightangles to the lid, Fig. 1, to a position in line with or parallel to thelid. This screen covers the draft-passage formed by the lid and sidewings and excludes cindersfrom the ice-hole.

As thus far described I have provided a ventilator consisting of a lidsupplementary to the main lid and having supporting and screeningdevices, such ventilator being bodily detachable from the car-roof topermit the main lid to be closed and capable of being folded fiat intosmaller compass to permit it to be stowed away safely and out of theway.

For the purpose of furnishing means for stowing the ventilators bodilythe car-roof is provided with receptacles,which can be made in differentways and can be either horizontal ,or vertical. I have shown in thedrawings practical means for this purpose,which I shall now describe.

A receptacle G is formed adjacent to the ice-hole of sufficient size toreceive the folded ventilator. The roof itself can carry this receptaclehorizontally, or, as shown, it may extend down vertically below theroof. One

wall of the receptacle, Fig. 2, is the front wall or partition H of theice-tank. The other wall I is shortened at the top, so as not toobstruct the closing of the main ice-hole lid when the ventilator isdetached. I prefer to provide vertical guides 7 '7 forthe pintles 8,which project from the frame of the screen at its lower edge, and toform stops or seats 9 at the upper ends of these guides, in which thepintles rest when the screen is elevated and against which they areforced by the inclined position of the screen with the lid resting uponits upper edge. Instead of these guides simple projections or shoulderscould be made for the edge of the screen to rest upon.

By detaching the ventilator from the carroof where it is hinged its rearend can be pulled forward until the top is parallel with the screen,which produces the same effect as folding the screen inwardly and underthe lid. The side wings can now be folded inwardly and upon the screen,and the whole structure (now fiat) can be placed in the receptacle andout of the way and the main lid can be closed. It is, however,practicable to first push the screen into the receptacle and to lift therear end of the lid into line with the screen, so that the wings can befolded, and then cause the lid and wings to follow the screen into thereceptacle. I prefer, however, to fold the lid and screen parallel,because they are then in a more compact form and can be placed in asmaller receptacle.

The modifications shown in Figs. 3 and 4 relate to another manner ofconstructing a pocket to receive the ventilating structure. Instead offorming the pocket in the ice-tank, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, suchpocket is formed separately in the car structure and outside theice-tank, as represented at G. Since the pocket G extends up to thelevel of the car-roof, the screen is hinged to the lid D far enoughback, as shown, to permit the lower rear edge of the lid to be pulledforward without disconnecting the screen from the supports 10.

In Fig. 5 I have shown a modification of the supports for the screen,represented at 11, the object of which is to support the screen and yetpermit it to be bodily detached from the car.

a I prefer to cover the opening of the pocket with a hinged fiap orcover 12, as shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5. This fiap is hinged to the roofand may simply extend across the pocket to the screen, as in Fig. 5, or,as in Figs. 3 and 4, it may be provided with a small supplementary flap13, hinged by a flexible strip 14 to the flap 12, which will overlie theedge of the screen at a parallel angle and affords more completeprotection to the pocket.

I do not, as will have been understood, desire to limit myself todetails of construction described and shown for the purpose ofillustrating practical embodiments of my invention, but not the onlyembodiments, since modifications may be made in the construction withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In combination with a car having icetanks and ice-holes in its roof,main ice-hole lids permanently hinged to the car-roof, supplementarylids, detachably hinged to said roof, and foldable supports carried bysaid supplementary lids, whereby said supplementary lids and theirsupports form a ventilating structure, when the main lid is open, butcan be removed by detaching the hinge-joint to permit the main lid to beclosed substantially as described.

2. In combination with a car having icetanks and ice-holes in its roof,a main ice-hole lid for insulating the car permanently hinged to thecar-roof, a supplementary lid detachably hinged to said roof, foldablesupports hinged to said lid, and a foldable screen also hinged to saidlid, whereby said supplementary lid and its supports and screen form aventilating and screening structure When the main lid is open, but canbe removed by detaching the hinge-joint, to permit the main lid to beclosed, substantially as described.

3. I11 combination with a car having an icetank, and an ice-hole in itsroof, an ice-hole lid for insulating the car, permanently hinged to thecar-roof, a separate foldable structure including a screen, movablyhinged to the edge of the ice-hole so as to form a ventilating andscreening structure When the main lid is raised, and a receptacle formedin the car to hold and retain said structure when folded and not in use,whereby the insulating-lid can be closed.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature, in presence of twoWitnesses, this 4th day of September, 1896.

EDWIN T. EARL.

Witnesses:

L. W. SEELY, M. R. SEELY.

